Squires reelected president of West Mifflin Area school board

Nicholas Alexandroff and three reelected board members were sworn in at the reorganization meeting.

West Mifflin Area school board held its reorganization meeting Thursday.

Nicholas Alexandroff is the newcomer to the board, with Judith Ahern, Kevin Squires and Mark Donahoe retaining their seats in November’s election.

They were sworn in by Magisterial District Judge Armand Martin of Clairton because West Mifflin judge Richard Olasz was busy Thursday evening.

“Congratulations on your elections, and thank you for doing your duties of running the school district here in West Mifflin,” Martin said. “It’s a job that doesn’t often pay what it should pay, and it’s definitely got its critics. So we appreciate the public service.”

Student representatives Aubrey Jaskulski and Katerina Rubright were also sworn in.

The board opened nominations for president, with Donahoe and Ahern nominating Squires. All board members except Alexandroff voted for Squires, who has served as president for the past few years.

“I just want to say thank you to the board members who voted for my candidacy as president this year,” Squires said. “I look forward to working with all of you.”

Donahoe nominated board member Anthony DiCenzo for vice president, and Gina Englert nominated Janelle Kopay. DiCenzo won in a 5-4 vote.

The board also appointed representatives for PSBA, SHASDA and Steel Center. Squires said they would establish “status quo from last year” for these positions.

Squires will be the PSBA representative with Englert as the alternate, Englert will be the SHASDA representative with Kopay as the alternate and Donahoe will be the Steel Center representative with Englert as the alternate.

The present board committees will continue function until new committees are designated, according to Squires.

“I will be reaching out to all the board members to solicit their interest in com- mittees for the next year, and we will have them, hopefully in January, settled and established,” Squires said.

In other business:

• Real estate tax refunds due for 2024 and 2025 to a business on Lebanon Church Road in the amount of $43,393.89 were approved. The refunds are a result of changes in real estate tax assessment values established by Allegheny County.

• The board congratulated Hannah Hilla for receiving a $1,000 grant on the recommendation of the Freiermuth Fund, a donor advised fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, to be used for the middle school special education classroom.